The Beast Within
by mary233
Summary: What happens when you're given a second chance, but end up hurting everyone? It's not the way he looks that worries her, it's the beast within.  Disclaimer: Alex Finn owns the characters; I'm just playing around with them a little
1. God's gift to mankind

**I**

**You know that feeling you get when everybody is looking at you, pointing, whispering? The feeling that you just want to crawl under a rock and stay there until you're all grown up and past the awkward phase?**

**Kyle didn't know it. Or if he did at one point in his life, he certainly forgot about it. And rightly so. You would have forgotten it too if you were in his shoes. And everybody wanted to be. At least for a little while. He owned that school. When he walked those halls, they all stared. Every girl wanted to be his girlfriend or at least be his lab partner; anything related to Kyle would bring you extra popularity points. So today was no different.**

**He opened the door to the classroom only to be greeted by his jock friends and the occasional bimbo, but he always took his place on the third row near the window. Always.**

**'Still reading that book that belongs in a museum?' he asked as he sat down, not before winking at the blonde on his right.**

**'Still walking around like you are God's gift to mankind?' came a pensive voice from behind a tiny, old-looking book.**

**'You're bitchy today.' He said as he gave a faint smile, crossing his arms.**

**'Your nose is extra crooked today, but you don't see me complaining.' Finally a pair of big green eyes appeared, followed by a sneering facial expression.**

**'Lindy, you know you shouldn't frown, your face will freeze that way…and heaven knows we don't want that, now do we? You have enough problems as it is.'**

**'Ah, always a charmer, mister Kingsbury. Here's your paper, now stop talking.' She handed him something and then returned to her reading, turning her back slightly to him.**

**'Oh, touchy. What happened? Aunt Flo is in town?' he laughed a little and examined the piece of paper, which by pure coincidence, was his half of the project for that week.**

**'That was a bad joke, even for you. Now leave me alone or your reputation will be permanently damaged.' She didn't even bother to look up as she said this, zoning him out.**

**They weren't friends. They just got stuck being lab partners ages ago and since she did most of the work and Kyle could charm his way out of extra anything, it was perfect for both of them and that's why they could talk the way they did with each other – out of pure necessity. They talked about two minutes each time they were seated at the same table, never more. On the school hallways they didn't even look each other in the eye. They were part of very different groups and neither wanted to change that. It's like they didn't exist for each other outside that classroom.**

**Nearly an hour later, class was finally over and Lindy took her oversized back pack, stuffing all her books into it, while hopelessly trying to get her loose auburn hair from her eyes.**

**'You heard the man Linds. We have to write a 3 page essay by next week. Hope you enjoy it.' Kyle leaned bad in his chair with his arms behind his head, his amazing smile taking focus from his piercing eyes.**

**'I'm not Linds to you.' Was all she said before she stomped out the door, disappearing into a mass of students.**

**'And that's the last I'll see of her for another week.' Kyle muttered under his breath. He never really liked her that much. Would it kill her to put on some blush every now and then when she knew she would be spending one hour near him? Was it so damn complicated?**

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Ok, so tell me what you all think of this. This was just a tiny, tiny chapter to see if you like it. So tell me what you think...the good, the bad and the ugly, doesn't matter

**xoxo  
**


	2. 2 Wallis Simpson

II

Lindy POV

'Ok, so I have to buy some groceries, call Mom and Sharon and write that stupid thing today so that I can watch the film tomorrow. But what if I moved the film today and write the essay…ugh. Couldn't he do half the work? It's infuriating' I said to myself as I took my seat in History class. Another boring, uneventful day. Nothing like a day such as this can make you regret coming to New York and accepting that scholarship. Suck it in Linds. It will be all over soon.

I missed my family. I missed my friends. I thought coming to this city was going to be exciting, fun and a great opportunity. I thought maybe, just maybe, I would make some new friends, hang out, visit Central Park, the Statue of Liberty. So far I only visited my school, my minuscule apartment and the subway. Oh joy to the world. People here are so different from the ones at home, they're…distant. Yeah, distant. It's every man, woman and bimbo for themselves. Sucks to be me right now. But hey….what can you do?

This class was exceptionally boring. It was nothing I hadn't already studied back home, it was like history stood still in this classroom. And nobody seemed to be bothered by it.

'So…' the freakishly tall teacher said 'today we're going to be discussing famous affairs throughout history. Does anyone want to give us an example? Beside Clinton, please.'

'Yeah, I read about this dame….Wallis Simpson. She seemed ok.' Sloan said without raising her hand, obviously. Why would she even bother do to that?

'Well, please give us more details other than 'she's ok'.' The teacher smiled and leaned against his desk.

'Well, just think about it!' she threw her hands in the air 'She made a man give up his throne for her. That's something in my book.'

'Actually….' I found myself speaking without even noticing it; now that I started, I should finish 'she was described as being only interested in his title. If she did in fact love him, she would have understood he can't give up his position for her. It's not a question of whether he loved her or not, it's about the fact that she made him disappoint his family and an entire nation.'

'Yes, but in order to make that happen, you have to be pretty awesome, don't you think?' Sloan turned towards me, arching her perfectly plucked eyebrows.

'I don't disagree, it's just not done. She didn't love him, she just wanted to be made queen. That's not right.' I kept my face straight, playing with my red pen absentmindedly.

'Yeah, I guess you wouldn't understand that, now would you?' she smirked and her eyes slated a little.

'What do you mean?' I knew what she meant; she knew, everybody knew.

'You'll never be capable of making a man give you five minutes of his life, let alone his social status.'

'Sloan!' roared the teacher 'That's the third time this week you pick on one of your colleagues. That's it. Detention. Friday afternoon.'

'What?' she whipped her head towards him 'I can't be in detention Friday, I'm supposed to be at a party in the Hamptons.'

'I don't really care. Friday. 6 pm.'

'But…' Sloan tried reasoning with him but to no avail. After trying to bargain with him, she turned towards me and shot me a deathly glare. This was not good. You don't get on Sloan's bad side. I wasn't responsible for what she said, but I knew I was going to pay the consequences. But hey…what could she do to me that would be so horrible?

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Let me know what you think. I know they're small right now, but the others keep getting bigger

xoxo


	3. You Blew It

III

Kyle's POV

I hate, hate, hate walking. Damn New York traffic. One can't have his driver get him home in time to watch the game, one must walk 6 blocks. Revolting. Tyler suggested the subway. As if! I'd rather use my legs any day than to hang around those losers, even for 10 minutes.

I had just left the school perimeter and was thinking of my plans for this weekend when something touched my leg; it was a cane of some sort. What the…?

'Spare me some water please.' an old beggar lady said looking up at me. She was a hunchback and she had on a large cloak, shielding most of her from my eyes, but I could still see the large wrinkly nose with a big mole on top of it. Disgusting. I looked at the unopened bottle of water in my hand, then back at her. I wasn't really that thirsty, but it was my bottle and I wasn't going to give it to her, no way.

'I don't think so.' I said in the most unkind tone I could come up with. The nerve of that old hag.

'Please sir, just a drop. I'm very thirsty.' She continued to plead but I was getting more impatient by the nano second.

'I said no!' I yelled and started walking away.

'Most people don't get a second chance, young man. I suggest you take yours and make the best of it.' I heard her saying but I didn't turn around. Stupid old people with stupid problems. Shouldn't police be handling them. Giving them a place to stay for the night and stuff like that so that they don't harass innocent people on the street?

I was so outraged that I barely heard the screams coming from a close distance. It sounded like a girl….and I heard others that were laughing. Probably somebody tripped and bruised their knee or something, everybody laughs when that happens. So I followed the laughter and ended up near a minuscule park and what I saw would mark my existence. Not in a good way.

Linds was on the ground, being held there by three other girls while…was that Sloan? Yeah…that was her. She was cutting the poor girl's hair off. Laughing. All of them were laughing.

'Should I….do something?' I thought briefly to myself and I shouted Sloan's name. All their heads were turned and I looked towards Linds and I saw…was that a faint smile? But then I looked at the rest of them. If I stopped them, that would mean I have like….this relationship with the weird-looking girl. I'm not going to risk that. Not in a million years. No girl is worth risking my reputation for.

'Hey Sloan, just wanted to ask if you'll come by tomorrow. My dad's out of town.' I smiled, not looking at the girl on the ground. I didn't need any reason to feel any remorse. None at all.

'Sure Kyle. I'll come by around 8. Good for you?' she asked with a hand on her hip and the other one holding the scissors. God, she had great hips.

'Yeah.' I said before turning and walking away. After that I didn't hear any more screams, just laughter. I guess Linds must have made peace with her faith. It wasn't that bad either. It was just hair. She was ugly anyway, so who cared?

As I turned the corner though, I found out who cared.

'I told you you'll get another chance and you blew it.' Said a mysterious voice before everything went black.


	4. I'm Fine!

IV

Kyle's POV

That happened 2 months ago. Two agonizing, lonely, brutal months. I didn't want anybody to see the freak I had become so my father bought me this huge house that I never leave. Never. The first month I just stared at the ceiling and threw inanimate objects around. Now I'm just quiet. The rage, the anger, they all sort of evaporated. I didn't call my friends, I never responded to their e-mails. Nothing. Not that they tried very hard to reach me…but still.

I got up from the couch and headed towards my room. My big, luxurious room. I would have preferred to stay in a ditch as long as I didn't look like this. That witch…that bloody witch did this to me. She turned me into an albino, tattooed freak. I lost my hair, all over my body, not just my head and I am covered in grotesque drawings; I call them tattoos because I don't really know what they are. And I don't think I really want to know that. She left me a magic mirror, a glove and a key. The glove supposedly helps me with something, I haven't quite figured out yet. The key will apparently open any door I want and transport me to where I want to go. It's completely useless….it's not like I want to go anywhere looking like this. And finally, the mirror is the most exiting thing. I can watch anybody I want. Seriously, I've watched Sloane take a bath…it's not as pretty as I would have thought.

But there was one person I didn't watch. At first I was so angry with her, I knew I would break the mirror is I saw her; but then anger was replaced by guilt. And I couldn't bear to see her without her hair.

As I walked into my room, I saw the mirror on the bed.

'Better do it now and get it over with.' I said to myself and looked into the magical object, muttering Linds' name. And then she appeared.

She was in front of her computer, talking to somebody; the person on the other side of the chat looked like her, but was a little older. Probably her mother or sister. I looked closely and listened.

"Well" the older woman said "Your hair looks nice today. I don't know what made you cut those beautiful auburn locks of yours, but hey. I'm just an old lady."

"Yeah well…it's sort of the newest trend. Everybody's doing it." Linds smiled and waved her hand. So she hadn't told her mother the truth.

"I never thought you were the type to do everything the crowd is doing." The other woman said sympathetically "Are you really having a great time there, darling?" she asked, concern evident in her voice.

"I'm fine!" Linds threw her arms up in the air and giggled "Actually, I'm doing so great and have such good grades, the school wants me to participate in a new program."

"What kind of….?"

"Well…" she said quickly "It's a new thing the school wants to make like…official, so they chose the brightest students; I mean, the ones with the highest grades to study from home. Isn't that great?"

"Oh honey…does that mean you're coming home? We miss you so much." The woman said, excitement evident in her voice.

"No Mom, I can't. I still have to go every other week just to fill out some forms and stuff. I wish I could…Anyway, I have to go. I have to write like 3 essays. Talk to you soon."

After a brief goodbye, she turned off her computer and her shoulders sagged and she started shaking. I knew why she was crying. There was no such program. She was shielding herself from something.

I heard Sloane talking about different pranks, but I never thought they were directed towards Linds. I never assumed she would have to leave school….well, sort of leave school, just to get away from Sloane and her friends. She was shielding herself from them. That was such a pity.

But…if her family is in another state and she lives alone…plus the fact that she doesn't have to go to school on a regular basis…

This wasn't right. I knew what I had to do.


	5. Don't Pretend

PS: In this story, Kyle's house isn't in New York. And he looks like the film version, not as he is described in the book. XOXO.

V

Lindy's POV

It had been two days. Two days since I was taken from my home, or at least my home away from home and stuck in this hell hole. Granted, I had the most amazing bedroom a girl could dream of and don't even get me started on the size of the bathroom. But I still didn't know why I was here. He hadn't hurt me at all. He just…let me be. He would bring me food everyday and when I woke up I found this huge present near my bed. Obviously, I didn't open it, I just threw it across the room. That freak was in this room, while I was sleeping. I didn't know what he wanted, I didn't know anything! And it freaked me out. Maybe he was a psycho killer who just wanted another victim and I was it. But I'd be damned if I didn't put up a fight.

He did give me a letter; shoved it under my door is more like it, in which he explained that he wasn't going to hurt me. I already tried running away. Not a chance in hell. I looked out the window and I couldn't see anything apart from trees. Fantastic.

I didn't even know what he looked like. He had his hood on the entire time. He didn't seem old though.

I decided to risk it and opened my door. Maybe there was a way out, maybe he was sleeping, maybe I could get out. I would rather face the wild beats in the woods than to sit here and just wait to be chopped up or something.

But I had no such luck. As soon as I came out and walked three steps, there was somebody in front of me and his face was hidden again.

"Don't be afraid…" he said and raised his head a little, but I still couldn't see him.

"What do you want from me?" I asked in a single breath and took a step back.

"I don't want anything from you. I saw the way those girls were treating you so I decided to rescue you."

"Were you stalking me?" I practically yelled.

"No,no,no" he quickly said and gestured with his hands and I could see how pale he was. He must have seen me looking, because he put them behind his back immediately. "It's not like that. I…" he paused "I just heard what they were doing to you."

"Oh, so you decided to kidnap me to make everything better, right?" my temper was rising and if he was a psycho killer maybe shouting wasn't the best way to go.

"You aren't going to school anymore, are you? And your family isn't in New York, right?" he asked and his voice took a dangerous note.

"So?"

"Well, then. You're going to live here form now on and you're going to like it."

"I don't think so." I said matter-of-factly and started running down the hallway. I knew it wasn't the smartest thing anybody could do. And I was surprised he wasn't following me. What the…?

But I saw the front door and everything else disappeared from my mind. I tried opening it, but I couldn't. It was useless. I kept looking behind me, but he wasn't there. I tried opening the windows, but they wouldn't budge. I kept trying for another 30 minutes. I even tried to break the window, but nothing I threw at it seemed to do anything. I feel to the floor and I could feel tears in my eyes when I heard the sound of the tv.

I walked slowly towards the couch. He was watching some stupid show I never heard of. So if he was this relaxed, it meant that there was no way out unless he would let me leave. I sat down on the couch, as far away from him as I could.

"So…what do you want from me?" I asked, a little out of breath and out of the will to live.

"I already told you…" he started but I cut him off.

"Don't give me that bs. Tell me the truth."

"Well, I was getting a little lonely…" he said after a few long seconds.

"Don't you have like…some friends you could torture on a daily basis?" I asked shrugging.

"Don't pretend like your life was good enough to want to get back to it." He said before getting up. I still didn't see his face.


	6. Tap Water

VI

Lindy's POV

What makes life worth living for? A nice house? A meal every single day? Company? A huge bed? Nice clothes? I highly doubt that.

I hated that house. Every single room, every piece of furniture….I just wanted to break everything. But I still didn't know if I should make him angry or not. He kept knocking on my door, asking me if I wanted to see a movie, or eat something or play a game. The answer was 'no'. Every time.

But my apathy towards him began to fade away slowly. After I had tried multiple ways of escaping, and seeing that I couldn't, I decided I might as well play nice. So that's why I ventured into the kitchen that day, knowing he will be up and making himself a nice and easy breakfast.

'Finally decided to leave your ivory tower?' he asked, his face still hidden in the hoodie.

'A tower would have had more class than a big room with nothing to do in.' I replied and grabbed a glass. I went towards the sink and started pouring some water.

'We have bottled water, you know? You don't have to drink that'

'It's just water. Doesn't matter.' I said and took a big gulp.

After a few moments of silence, I finally opened my mouth 'So…are you at least going to tell me what your name is?'

'Does is matter?'

'It does. I don't know anything about you. It might help me come to terms with the fact that I'm being kidnapped by some psycho.'

'I'm not a psycho' he replied and I could swear there was a hint of amusement in his voice.

'Then why won't you let me see your face? Afraid I might get away while you're trying to savagely beat me to death and report you to the police?'

'I have a better reason than that…' he said tactilely.

'What is it?' I asked, moving closer to him and observing that he began to slide away.

'Not telling.' He said stubbornly.

'Well then…tell me something. Anything.'

'Orange…' he said after a few seconds.

'Orange…what?'

'It's my favourite colour. Or at least, it was.' He almost whispered and left the kitchen, leaving me all alone with my glass of tap water.


	7. Punished

VII

**Kyle's POV**

I caught her dancing the other day. She thought I was in the shower, but I left the water running and wet to get a larger towel and I passed her dancing in the living room, her back turned towards me and her whole body moving. I can't remember the song, but it was some form of 80s rock and her hips moved so slowly it almost hurt. I briefly wondered if she ever had given a lap dance to anyone, my old self coming back with a vengeance. Before I could stop myself I took a step forward, but remembered I'm not the handsome Kyle that could seduce any girl he liked, I was the Kyle they all feared. So I stepped back in the shadows of the hallway and watched her until she turned her attention towards the tv and changed the channel, and then sat on the couch. If she was dancing, that means she feels a little more comfortable here, which was a good sign.

I returned to the bathroom, had my shower and when I came out she was gone. So my theory was correct. She was coming out of her room when I was in the shower. Sneaky little thing. I could definitely use that to my advantage. And I did, the very next day. I left the water running and waited a few minutes and then casually walked into the living room and sure enough, there she was with the remote control in her hands, which she almost dropped when she saw me.

"Please clarify something for me. You came into the kitchen a few days ago, knowing I was there and talked to me. But still, you won't come in here when I'm in this room. Why?" I asked, crossing my hands in front of me.

She cleared her voice and looked towards me, no hint of embarrassment in her eyes. "When I came to you, it was on my terms. It gives me some sort of power, even though I'm trapped here."

All I could mutter was an "oh" and shut my mouth, her eyes still fixated on me.

"And you can turn off the water now, I won't run back into my room." She said after a few seconds, her gaze still following me as I turned to the bathroom and do as she said.

I came back and sat on the couch, near enough as to not make her uncomfortable. But she moved to the farthest spot and turned off the tv and then looked at me.

"I want to see your face." She stated and watched me closely.

"Why?" I asked unsure of what I should say. I didn't want her to look at me.

"Because I'm curios. And you said you wanted me here because you felt lonely. If we're ever going to be friends, not knowing the real you isn't going to help."

"Tell you what." I said after thinking a bit "You answer some of my questions and then I'll show you, if you really want to see it."

"Only if you answer some of mine." She nodded and her posture relaxed a bit.

"Fair enough." I smiled, knowing she couldn't see that "What happened at school?"

"I thought you already knew everything about me, including my bra size." She scoffed and crossed her arms in a defensive manner.

"I don't, but if you care to share that, I'd be willing to find out." Good old sarcastic Kyle, this was not the time to show your ugly head.

"I was bullied by some girls." She said, lowering her head "I don't know what set them off, but it became impossible to go to school. I tried standing up to them and they cut my hair. All of it. After a few weeks I tried talking to the principle, it was interfering with my school progress but he couldn't, or better yet, wouldn't do anything about it. The girls' leader was a rich, spoiled girl and her daddy gave the school a lot of money and…the principle actually told me that if I go to the police I would make things worse. Not that I would've gone to the police, I didn't want my parents finding out because that meant I had to go home and I wanted to be in a big city so much. I come from a little town and…they worked so hard." She stopped for a minute, looking in front of her, her eyes not moving "I really tried to sort things out with them. I did. I thought I was stronger than that. But then the rumors started and everybody started calling me names. Who were they going to believe? The girl from nowhere, with no friends or the school princess? even the only friend I thought I had chose to abandon me so I guess it was stupid of me to believe I could socialize with those people."

My stomach tightened at that last statement, I knew she was talking about me. Granted, we weren't actually friends, but still. I could see why she considered me an ally of some sort.

"Who was that friend?" I dared to ask.

"Just some guy I knew. He was like the school's prince. And I know it sounds cheesy, but from where I come from, the school's popular guy can be a friend of the unpopular new girl. I guess that big cities don't have that exception to the rule."

She sounded hurt. She sounded really, really hurt. If I could have smacked myself, I would have.

"So…what's your story?" she asked. I stared at her before I answered.

"I did something stupid and I got punished for it."

"Punished…how?" she turned her whole body towards me.

"Like this." And I took the hood off my head and revealed my face to her.


End file.
